


Contagious Idiocy

by bluemisfortune



Series: Valkyrie AU [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 11:25:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10555510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemisfortune/pseuds/bluemisfortune
Summary: Yuuma’s greatest weapon has always been his ability to make friends. There’s no escaping his friendship, or his hugs, as Kaito discovers.





	

 “The enemy seems to have to upper hand,” Ryouga says, glaring up at the monsters above them.

 “Can’t we use the helicopters to attack from above?” Yuuma replies.

 Almost the second Yuuma suggests it, there’s fire and noise above them, the agents from the helicopters escaping just in time. Ryouga glares at Yuuma, who laughs sheepishly.

 “Don’t say dumb things like that,” he snaps, flicking Yuuma’s forehead. “Don’t tempt fate. Let’s just do what we can and protect the people we can.”

 Yuuma nods and Ryouga’s sword flashes in his hand. Save the people they could. Their priority was to protect. They could think about how to fight better once they’d saved as many lives as they could.

 

 There’s certainly an improvement in Yuuma. He moves better every day. Thank goodness he’s naturally athletic and bouncey. Without being able to summon up his weapon, at least he can fight the monsters without getting in the way and hurting himself.

 Even if he is still an optimistic moron.

 “Shark,” Yuuma calls. Ryouga tilts his head back as he slices through another monstrous blob. “Everyone’s clear but…”

 “Unless we get rid of those carriers, we can’t help anyone. Or get near Kadingir.”

 Yuuma frowns a little, gazing down at his hands. “Rio could have done it, right? She had those huge wide range attacks.”

 “You’re not Rio,” Ryouga says, shaking his head. “Don’t try to be.” He twists his blade, knocking Yuuma’s chin up with the flat side. “Tsukumo Yuuma can’t be anyone but Tsukumo Yuuma. If you try to be someone else, you’re never going to be able to summon your arms.”

 Yuuma stares at him for a moment before he nods and beams. “Right! Thank you, Shark!”

 “It’s nothing. Just focus. Remember, you have things you want to protect too.”

 Yuuma nods and they run onto into the battlefield. The carriers above them open and Ryouga’s grip on his sword tightens-

 

 Only for the rain of monsters to be torn apart in a hail of bullets.

 

 They turn. Kaito is there, scowling down at them both like they’re the ones who are the problem here. Ryouga scowls back but Yuuma grins.

 “Here to finish what we started?” Ryouga calls, leveling his sword at Kaito. Kaito scowls back, a pair of crossbows forming from his gauntlets. “I don’t have time for you today, I’m afraid.”

 “I thought we settled things rather definitively,” Kaito replies. Yuuma goes to step between them but Ryouga shoves him back behind him. Kaito watches for a moment before dropping one of his crossbows and holding up a communicator. One of their unit’s. “This was making a racket. It was going to wake up Haruto. I thought being here might shut it up.”

 “Sorry, help arrived a little later than planned,” Gauche laughs through the coms.

 Kaito clicks his tongue and Yuuma grins. He barges passed Ryouga, knocking away Kaito’s other crossbow and throwing his arms around him.

 “Kaito!” Ryouga rolls his eyes lowering his sword as Kaito tries to pry Yuuma off. “I knew you weren’t a bad guy! Who’s Haruto? Where are you staying? Are you coming home with us?”

 “Get off me,” Kaito argues, pushing at his face. “I- I’m not here for you! Are you even listening to me? I’m not helping I’m just- I have reasons to fight on the same side as you guys right now. I have something I have to do.”

 “You do?!” Yuuma cries, gazing up at him. “You have something you want to protect too? Is it Haruto? We can make your dream come true together, Kaito!”

 “What?! No! Let go!”

 Yuuma is laughing and clinging to Kaito, even as Kaito tries to get loose of his iron grip. All it does is get Yuuma’s arms around his middle instead. Although, Yuuma pauses and frowns.

 “You feel thin,” he says, pinching Kaito’s side.

 “What are you-”

 “Are you eating properly?” Yuuma looks deadly serious for once and Ryouga is sure Kaito’s going red. “You can’t think straight on an empty stomach, you know? No wonder you’re always so grumpy. We should go out to get you something proper to eat after this, right Shark?”

 “Sure, sure,” Ryouga says, smirking over at Kaito. Now he’s _sure_ he’s going red. “Always happy to help someone who can’t look after himself.”

 “I can cook,” Kaito snaps. “I look after Haruto by myself all the time-”

 “It’s ok,” Yuuma says, smiling up at Kaito. “We’ll take you out either way. We all have things we’re bad at though, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You should see Shark trying to tidy.”

 “We don’t need to go into that,” Ryouga says quickly.

 “I went to visit him in hospital when Droite was on a job,” he continues, completely ignoring Ryouga’s protests. Now Kaito’s starting to smile. “His room was such a mess I thought someone had broken in a kidnapped him or something.”

 “Is that so?” Kaito says, turning his judging gaze over to Ryouga. “I never would have thought someone like you would be so slothenly.”

 “Are you implying I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t know how to keep house?” Ryouga snaps, face heating up. “I just have better things to do with my time. Droite usually takes care of those things for me. There are more important things to be doing right now!”

 Kaito smirks. “Your manager cleans your room.”

 “I know, right?” Yuuma says. “I don’t want a girl handling my underwear except my gran doing laundry.”

 “Your grandma does your laundry?” Ryouga says, tilting his head.

 “Gran does lots of me! She looks after me! What’s wrong with that?!”

 Ryouga laughs a little and Kaito actually smiles at Yuuma’s indignant protests. There’s a moment of peace and contentment in the middle of the battlefield. The three of them laughing and arguing good naturedly.

 He thinks Rio would be proud of how far he’s come.

 

 “That’s enough,” Kaito says, eyes suddenly hardening as he shoves Yuuma away. “Enough. You two can get out of here. I can deal with this on my own.”

 “No way,” Yuuma argues. “We’re your-”

 “You say friends and I’ll shoot you first.” Yuuma frowns as Kaito lifts his gauntlets once more. “We’re not friends. I don’t need friends. I don’t need help. I’ve always been alone. That’s not going to change anytime soon.”

 Kaito runs off into the dangerzone, right beneath the carriers and the pair can only stare as he open fire. He’s certainly got the right weapon for the situation. Long ranged weaponry, able to get into the air further than they ever could.

 “I’m starting to think he doesn’t like us,” Ryouga says and Yuuma laughs and nods. He’s sure Yuuma will get through to him with sheer stubbornness alone. He doesn’t know when to give up. “Let’s deal with the ones on the ground. We can’t do much compared to him right now.”

 Yuuma nods and follows Ryouga to take care of the monsters on the ground. Kaito is competent if nothing else. The amount of monsters making it to the ground is significantly decreased. Even if the carriers are the still there, still dropping monsters on them.

 

 Ryouga twists, slicing through another monster with an easy twist of his blade, stepping back as he summons a shower of blades into the surrounding monsters. His back hits something solid and he staggers to whirl around and throw out his sword only to have a gun leveled at his head.

 “Watch where you’re going,” Kaito snaps. “You’re getting in my way.”

 “How about you pay attention to where you allies are?” Ryouga snaps back. “What’s your problem? Do you really want to fight alone?”

 “Better than fighting with someone who needs help all the time,” he replies. “I don’t need your help. Unlike you, I don’t have to rely on someone else to get the job done. I could deal with you at the same time. None of this makes us friends. Why not just go back to how it was before?”

 “If I need to smack you around to get you to stop being a stuck up idiot, sure.”

 

 Kaito swings around one arm but before he can change it into any sort of weapon, Yuuma’s hands are around his. Kaito’s eyes widen and his face goes red as he jerks back.

 “What the hell are you doing?!”

 Yuuma smiles as catches his hand again, smiling up at him like the blond idiot hasn’t been threatening to kill the for the past few months. Yuuma really is something else. He just smiles and tilts his head, glancing between them.

 “There’s no reason for us to be fighting,” Yuuma says.

 “There’s no reason for us not to either,” Kaito replies, trying to jerk his hand out Yuuma’s grip. “Let go! You can’t just expect people to-”

 “Yes, we can,” he says, shaking his head. He smiles and takes Ryouga’s hand. Ryouga doesn’t argue but watches him warily. What’s the idiot up to now? “All this time, I thought it sucked not being able to summon any arms. I thought I was only half a fighter. Because I couldn’t live up to the legacy Rio had passed down to me. I questioned my resolve and determination. Maybe I was lacking something. But I get it now. I figured it out.”

 Yuuma’s smile brightens up and Ryouga’s scowl softens into a small smile.

 “It’s because I’m not carrying any weapons, that my hands are free to hold yours like this.”

 “Yuuma…”

 Yuuma laughs a little. Kaito is staring and Ryouga sighs, shaking his head. His blade hits the ground, driving into the concrete. His hand stretches out to Kaito. Yuuma really is an idealistic moron.

 Kaito stares at him. His fingers twitch and Ryouga keeps his hand steady, held out to Kaito, waiting for him to make a move either way. Kaito reaches out slowly, not looking at either of them as his fingers brush Ryouga’s. Almost instantly he goes to jerk back but Ryouga’s faster and grips his wrist, pulling him back so he can shift his grip to Kaito’s hand.

 There’s a moment of stillness before Kaito’s eyes widen and he jerks his hand from Ryouga’s, glaring at the ground in the distance. Ryouga doesn’t bother starting an argument by pointing out that Kaito is still holding Yuuma’s hand. And Yuuma is still grinning like this is the greatest thing in the world.

 “Is his idiocy contagious?” Kaito grumbles.

 “I guess so,” Ryouga says, offering Yuuma a small smile. “And now you’ve got it too.”

 

 A shadow moves over them and Yuuma drops their hands, staring up at the giant carriers. Ryouga growls and Kaito scowls.

 “Until we get rid of them, they’ll be no end of them,” Ryouga says.

 “I can take care of that,” Kaito says with a shrug. “My armour specialises in long-range, wide area artillery. I can take it out.”

 “You’re not going to do anything dangerous, are you?” Yuuma cries.

 “Everything about this is dangerous,” he replies with a shrug. “But no, I’m not offering up my soul. I have things to get back to back. I won’t offer up my life over something so petty.” Ryouga doesn’t miss the pointed glance in his direction, but ignores it. “It’s simple. I increase the energy output but suppress the release. The armour will overload and I’ll release when it hits critical.”

 “But to do that you’ll be completely vulnerable,” Ryouga says, shaking his head.

 “That’s settled then!” Yuuma laughs. “We’ll just have to watch Kaito’s back. Let’s go, Shark! We’ve got you covered, Kaito, so do what you have to.”

 Kaito stares after them as they move away into the battlefield, striking at the monsters within range. Ryouga can’t help smile, watching Yuuma from the corner of his eye. The power to smash apart, or hold them together. How very Yuuma. What a fitted armament for him.

 Kaito releases without warning. Ryouga flinches at the sudden sound of bullets and explosions. He staggers back, staring up at the debris falling from the carrier monsters as all three exploded. Yuuma is laughing and cheering andRyouga turns his attention to finishing off the remaining monsters, cut off from reinforcement.

 

 “He did it!” Yuuma cheers.

 “Of course,” Kaito replies.

 “That was a great scatter shot!”

 “Scatter shot?!” Ryouga smiles at Kaito’s annoyance and a bolt hits the ground at Yuuma’s feet. “I aimed every one of those shots!”

 Yuuma laughs and, despite Kaito’s threats, his arms are flung around Kaito once more, laughing and cheering. Kaito is arguing, trying to shove him off again as Ryouga wanders over.

 “Get off,” Kaito snaps, finally shoving Yuuma off and glaring furiously. “What do you think you’re doing?”

 Their armour pulls away and vanishes, leaving them in uniform and Kaito... Ryouga isn’t going to think about Kaito’s fashion sense. He’ll lend him a school uniform later, they’re about the same size and he needs something respectable to wear.

 “It’s thanks to you that we could win, Kaito,” Yuuma cheers and Kaito is hugged again before he can react. “You were so cool!”

 “Will you stop!”

 Kaito shoves him off again, but that won’t stop him. Ryouga has learnt this already. Nothing stops Yuuma from getting hugs. Ever. He’s even worse now he’s better at sneaking around. Maybe combat training wasn’t such a good idea. He seems to have weaponised hugs.

 “We’re not friends, got it?” Kaito snaps. “We’re not going to hang out and act all chummy. I don’t need or want your help and we’re not suddenly going to be working together. I’m just here to protect Haruto and make our dream happen.”

 “Dream?” Yuuma’s eyes light up and Ryouga rolls his eyes. “You have a dream, Kaito? What is it? Tell me. How can we help?”

 “What?” Another hug and Yuuma laughs, even as he’s shoved off again. “Stop that. You’re so hopeless.”

 “I’ve been saying that for a long time,” Ryouga replies.


End file.
